Ibn ‘Arabī and Kafka on God and the Law

Although ostensibly different, Franz Kafka and the mystical theorist Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn ‘Arabī (d. 638/1240) both employ complex rhetoricity that accommodates paradox and contradiction. This study compares how their complex rhetoricity exposes the tension between the essential human need to comprehend god, and a god who is essentially apophatic. God’s apophasis, expressed as His numinous laws, inevitably comes into conflict with Man’s rationality. Through a theological/legal analysis of Kafka’s novel, The Trial, and ‘Ibn ‘Arabī’s interpretation of ‘Īsā’s (Jesus’) encounter with God on the Day of Judgement, the implications of this tension are explored. Manifested as the incompatibility of immutable divine laws and variable human affairs, and the divergent demands of the individual and the community, the epistemic crisis elicited by this tension provokes opposing reactions from Kafka’s protagonist, Josef K., and ‘Īsā. Josef K.’s demise results from his exclusive reliance on reason, while Īsā succeeds in his encounter with God because he recognizes that, even though rationality is necessary, it is limited.